New Zealand lock Brodie Retallick was handed an off-field Yellow card following his team’s 32-16 win over South Africa in Soweto on Saturday. The dangerous tackle was made on opposition second rower Andries Bekker, but was not penalised at the time.
Retallick lifted the legs of Bekker in a tackle, which resulted in the 2.08m lock landing on his back in what is nowadays considering a dangerous tackle, contravening ‘Law 10.4 (j) lifting a player from the ground and either dropping or driving that player’s head and/or upper body into the ground’.
Referee Alain Rolland, the same man that showed Wales’ Sam Warburton red in the 2011 Rugby World Cup semi final, saw the tackle but chose not to penalise or card it, instead giving a penalty for a different offence a few moments later.
By the letter of the law the tackle was dangerous and while it wasn’t worthy of a red card, it should have been dealt with at the time. Subsequently, Retallick was issued an off-field yellow card by a SANZAR citing commisioner following a review of the match footage.
The off-field yellow card will have no impact on the All Blacks’ next match, against the Wallabies in Brisbane in two weeks time, but it will count negatively towards Retallick’s disciplinary record.
Do you think Rolland should have taken action at the time, or are you of the opinion that tip-tackles over policed currently? Let us know in the comments below.
Sign In